this is live coverage on c-span2. >> additional 13,000 people will be lifted out of taxes altogether, people of 1.1. >> the commission proposals right to work. does the secretary share my concerns the government might further tax a high tax payers in wales? >> government is considering their recommendation of the report and we would be reported by those very shortly. that will be the appropriate time. >> we all know that millionaires

spend -- [inaudible] can he tell us dummy millionaires are in wales? >> he knows as well as i do the road, few millionaires in wales. but what i can tell him is that in every year this parliament they will be paying more tax than they did in each year of the last labour government. >> thank you, mr. speaker. but isn't the real danger that with a government changes in tax and benefits in wales, you will see in particular in the community with the vast majority of people work of those people will have less money in their pockets? they will have less money to spend in local shops? there will be more shops closing. there will be fewer people in jobs and it will be a double whammy for the welsh economy? >> if he wants to be taken seriously with having a mess about deficit reduction, he knows you cannot begin to to

deficit reduction until you take a serious approach to welfare reform. on the side of the house we're doing it in a fair and responsible way. a way that rewards hard work. >> order. questions to the prime minister. >> number one, mr. speaker. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i'm sure the whole house will wish to join me in paying tribute to richard reginald walker, 28 engine regiment, attached to 21 engineer regiment. it is clear to see from the tributes paid that he was outstanding soldier and mutual respect. are deep assemblies are are with his family and his friends at this difficult time. mr. speaker, i would also like to mention helicopter crash in central london display but also central london display but also wish to join in sending our thanks to the emergency services for the rapid and professional response to the situation. mr. speaker, this point i had meetings with ministerial and colleagues and others, and in addition to my duties in the south i will have further such meetings later today. >> for too long many women and especially hard working

stay-at-home moms have been penalized by the country's pension system for having interruption to their national insurance contributions. after 13 years when the previous government did nothing -- [shouting] >> does the prime minister think that the announcement this week of a single tear pension will finally deal with this great injustice? >> i think my honorable friend makes an important way. i think the single. pension is an excellent for. i think will have all parties support because it holds out the prospect in 2017 of having a basic state pension over 140 pounds rather than 107 pounds, taking millions of people out of the main set, giving them dignity in retirement, and particularly as he says, helping low-paid people suffer what people, and above

all women who have not been able to necessarily a full pension and pass. i hope will have the support of everyone across the house. >> ed miliband. >> mr. speaker, kind of join the prime minister in paying tribute to sapper richard walker, 20 engineer regiment, attached to 21 engineer regiment. he showed the utmost courage and bravery, and all of us have thoughts with his family and friends. i also joined the prime minister i'm passing on condolences to the family of those who lost their lives in helicopter crash this morning in london. mr. speaker, when the prime minister first became leader of the conservative party said their biggest problem was that they spent far too much of their time banging on about europe. [laughter] is he glad those days are over? [laughter] >> i think, i think that even the leader of the labour party should accept the fact that it

is a massive change taking place in europe. a change that is being driven by the changes in the eurozone, and and, frankly, this country faces a choice and political parties in this country faces a choice, do we look at these changes and see what we can do to maximize britain's national interest and do we consult the public about that, or do we set back, do nothing, until the public to go home? i know where i stand. i know where this party stands, and that's in the national interest. >> ed miliband. >> well, let's hope we can find out what he does than today, mr. speaker. i should i suppose congratulate them on one thing, i'm having decide on the date of this speech. well done, well done. another example of the rolls-royce operation of number 10 downing street. [laughter] now, mr. speaker, in advance of his speech, investors need to

know what britain did the european union in five years time? >> on important decisions can a first of all congratulate him on an important decision that he faced this week, that is to keep the shadow chancellor in place? [shouting] >> rarely, rarely do we see such cross party support. my view is that britain is better off in the european union, but i think it is right for us -- [shouting] it is right for us to see the changes taking place in europe and to make sure that we are arguing on the changes that britain needs. so that, therefore, we have a better relationship with when britain and your. we have a better organize the european union and we have a full hearted consent of the european union people. those are the choices we're making. what are his choice of? >> maybe we are making a better progress, mr. speaker. in october 2011, i'm sure the prime minister will remember

this, he and i walked shoulder to shoulder through the lobby. against the 81 members of his party who voted for and and out referendum. you might call it to parties working together in the national interest. now, the foreign secretary said at the time, i think he's on his way to australia to get as far away from the prime minister speech as possible, he said this, he said the reason for our vote was an in out referendum would create additional economic uncertainty in this country. i said difficult economic time. was the foreign secretary right? >> yes, he was entirely right. it's interesting, it is interesting that the leader of the opposition will want to talk about process because he dare not debate the substance. [shouting] i don't think, i do think it will be right for britain to have an in out referendum today because i think we would be giving the british people a false choice. millions of people in this

country, myself included, want britain to stay in the european union but they believe there are chances to negotiate a better relationship. throughout europe, countries are looking at forthcoming treaty change, and thinking, what can i do to maximize my national interest? that is what the germans will do. that is what the spanish will be. that is what the british should do. let's get onto the substance and give up the feeble jokes. [shouting] >> well first of all -- first of all, first of all, mr. speaker, first of all, mr. speaker, i thought the jokes are pretty good, i am talking about -- [laughter] but i am talking about the substance. i am talking about the substance. his position appears to be this. and in out referendum now would be destabilizing, but promising one in five years time is just fine for the country. now, what does that mean?

that in five years of businesses being closed for business sign hanging around britain. what did lord hassel signs a? he said this, i know there was a. lord, what of the few mainstream boys in the conservative party. he said this. to commit to a referendum about the negotiating, on a timescale you cannot predict, on an outcome that is unknown, seems to me like an unnecessary gamble. was he right? >> there is absolutely no secret that when it comes to europe there are discriminate between myself and michael. michael like huge amount of time for calm he was one of the leading voices for britain to join the single currency and i'm delighted we haven't joined and we shouldn't hundred and in my prime ministers should we will never join. that is also the view of millions of businesses up and down this country. what business wants in europe is what i want in your.

to be a more flexible your. and more competitive your. a europe that can take on the challenge of the global race and the rise of nations in the south and east. i put to him again. when there is change taking place in your, when the single county is driving change, isn't it in britain's national interest to argue for changes that will make the european union more competitive and more flexible, that will strengthen and sort out britain's relationship between britain and the european union, and then you ask the british people for the consent. that is our approach. apart from coming up with he considers very amusing jokes, what is his approach? >> the biggest change we need in europe is to move from austerity to growth and jobs, and he has absolutely nothing to say about that. and here is the reality. the reason that he's changing his mind is nothing to do with a national interest. it's because he's lost control of his party.

[shouting] and the problem is this, he thinks this problem on europe will end on friday. they are just beginning. they are just beginning. can he confirm, can he confirm he is now giving the greenlight to conservative cabinet ministers to campaign on different positions, are they for or against being in the european union? >> first of all, he makes a point. he tries to make the point that europe should somehow be moving off the policy of deficit reduction. he is completely isolated to your. there is not one single government, not even socialists in europe who believe that you should be pushing our borrowing and borrowing more. that is a simple truth. what is in britain's interest is to seek a fresh settlement in europe that is more flexible, more competitive. that is in our interest. that is what we will seek. but i have to ask him, i have to ask in this. doesn't he understand, doesn't

he understand that what has happened over the last decade where a labour government signed a treaty after treaty gave away power after power for more centralization after more centralization? and never consulted the british people has what is made this problem such a big problem in the first place. >> our house in the country -- the prime minister do not after the question as to whether he is given the green light to his cabinet, his conservative members, to campaign some of them being in the opinion and some of them getting out. that is the reality of the weakness of this prime minister, mr. speaker, but at a time when there are 1 million young people out of work and we have businesses going to war. what is he doing? he spent six was preparing a speech to create five years of uncertainty for britain. when it comes to europe, it's the same old tories. a divided party, and a week prime minister.

>> he has absolute nothing to say about the important issue of britain's relationship to europe. what is his view? >> order, order. response from the prime minister must be heard, and it will be. the prime minister. >> it will be a very simple choice of the next election but if you want to stay out of the single currency, you will conservative. if you want to join this ago giunta, you vote labour. if you want to take power back, you vote conservative if you want to give the power to brussels you vote labour. that is the truth. what we see from his position he wants absolutely no change in the relationship between britain and europe. he doesn't believe the british people should be given the choice. >> the prime minister is very rightly, rightly focus the government on growth and development of new housing. as well as providing much-needed

new homes. in my constituency we have two developments, 8000 new homes coming forward. will the prime minister join me in praising the cost under 10 -- [inaudible] >> i'd be delighted to visit my honorable friend in rugby. is right to say we do need to build more houses in our country. that is because right now in much of help from your parents the average age of the first time buyer is now in their 30s. we need to build more homes to make sure we can allow people to achieve the dream that so many people have been getting on the housing ladder. >> thank you, mr. speaker. in 2010 the prime minister and his party was i quote, lying and scaremongering suggest they would reduce them attacks good for families earning less than 31,000. we found out last week the threshold will, in fact, be

26,000. will he now apologized to families that he failed to protect? >> say sorry. >> this government has had to make difficult decisions on public spending and on welfare, but throughout that we have protected those on the lowest incomes and major particular child tax credit that we've actually increased. that is what we've done with child tax credit and it's the record we should support. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the residents enjoy burgers but also love horses. this morning they will be shocked -- shocked to hear that they might have been eating horses. i wonder if the prime minister can reassure us that he and the government are doing a lot to reassure us? >> i think the honorable lady raises a very important issue, raises a very important issue. and it's an extremely serious issue. people in our country will have

been very concerned to read this morning that when they thought of buying beef burgers they were buying something that had horse meat in it. that is extremely disturbing news. i've asked the agency to conduct an urgent investigation into this. they have made clear that there is no risk to public safety because there's no food safety risk. but this is a completely unacceptable state of affairs. they will be meeting retailers and protesters this afternoon to they will investigate the supply chain. it is worth making the point that ultimately retailers have to be responsible for what they sell and where it comes from. >> thank you, mr. speaker. could i think the prime minister for their condolences that i ask him -- add my condolences and sympathy to those people who died, families of those who died in my constituency this morning in the helicopter crash. would he share with me the absolute amazing work that was done by particularly five services this month, the

firefighters who came, they were there in a very short time. what he also recognize that at some stage, not today, but at some stage we do need to look at whether i met with the changing skyline of london we need to look much more closely at where and how and why the helicopters fly throughout our country. >> i think the honorable lady is absolutely right once again to praise the emergency service. i think everyone can see from this terrifying pictures onto television screens just how quickly the emergency services responded and how brave and professional they were in the way in which they respond. i think the point she makes about the rules for helicopter flights and, indeed, other fights over our capital city, i'm sure they will be looked at as part of the investigations that will take place. she's right that's not an issue for today but inevitably something that has to be carefully looked at. >> thank you, mr. speaker. last week, i organize a not promotion seminar for women wanting to set up businesses.

one of the questions they asked was the cost of childcare. isn't that this government suspended 15 hours of two-year olds for the most advantaged -- and extended it to three and four-year-olds, i sure that this government is supporting families and women who want to work? >> i think my honorable friend makes a very important point. the fact is we have seen over last couple of years one of the fastest rates of new business creation in our history, but we do need to encourage particularly female entrepreneurship if we have the same rate as other countries would help white -- wipeout on the point altogether. we do help families in terms of two, three and four-year-olds with childcare. would also help through a tax credit system but as the house will know we're looking at how we can help even further for hard-working people the ones that need help for child care to make sure they can do the right thing for the children and their families. >> thank you, mr. speaker. women with the prime minister

visit a food bank? he is most welcome to come to brussels. >> first of all let me say again how much we should recognize and welcome the work that food banks do. it was the last government i think that quite rightly actually recognize that giving food banks and the were. as honorable members have asked this question and shout out a lot about, let me remind them of one simple fact. they use a food banks went up tenfold under the last labour government. so before they try to use this as some political weapon, they should recognize it started under their own government. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the national star college in my constituency provides world renowned care for some of our disabled youngsters with the most profound and complex learning difficulties to enable them to lead an independent life. sadly, it and a few similar

colleges future is being placed in jeopardy by decisions about funny. as i'm sure my right honorable friend will wish to solve this problem, may i invite him to come to the college, see the wonderful care for himself? >> well, as my constituency -- i'm happy to discuss this issue within. he rightly praises the fantastic were carried out by the national start college. it does do an excellent job improving the life chances of young people. i know the college has concerns over the new funding system and i know that he is contacted the minister responsible. we are changing the way funding is allocated but this does not necessarily mean the funding will be cut. i'm very happy to discuss this with him at the new funding system does allow local authorities to have more say in how the funding is attributed to ensure they want to recognize excellent work including from this national college. >> is the prime minister aware of the trauma facing thousands of families, particularly in london, who are in private rent accommodation when the housing

payments do not meet the rapidly increasing rate and are forced out of their homes, forced out of the boroughs and the committee suffers as result and the children's education suffers also? does he not think it's time to regulate private sector rent to bring in a fair rate policy in this country so that families are not forced out of the communities where they and their families could live for a very long time? >> what i would say to the honorable gentleman is he does have to recognize we inherited a situation in terms of housing benefit in london that was completely out of control. some families were getting as much as 104,000 pounds for one family for one year. even today we are still spending something like 6 billion pounds on housing benefit in london. i think we have to recognize that higher levels of housing benefit and higher rents were chasing each other up in a spiral. i don't support the idea of

rent-controlled because i think what we'll see is a massive decline in the private rented sector which is what happened last time we had such rent-controlled that's what we need is proper regulation of housing benefit and making sure we have a competitive system for private sector renting, and also making sure we build more flats and houses. >> the deficit has to be brought down, but if tax credits and benefits are capped, people with low income will be left vulnerable. if prices go up by more than expected what contingency plan does the government have for benefits and tax credits because the most important thing is to make sure people are getting a good deal in terms of energy prices. that is why we're going to be legislating to make companies put people on the lowest available tariffs. that is something that undecided of the house we're doing which will help all families. >> as a diabetic can i welcome the fact that last year the

prime minister lit up number 10 for the first time on world diabetes day? one-third of all the prime minister leaders have got either, are either obese or their overweight. yet they consume cans of coke and pepsi that contain up to eight teaspoons of sugar. what steps is the prime minister imposing to take to engage manufacturers in the war against sugar? if we don't act now, the next generation will be overwhelmed by diabetes epidemic. >> i think the right honorable friend is absolutely right to raise this issue. it is one of the biggest health challenges that we face in our country, a public health challenge that we face. he's right to highlight the problem of excessive eating of sugar. that is why we challenge business to a responsibility deal to try to reduce levels of sugar, and that has had some effect. what we have in place that is a diabetes action plan which is about how we improve early diagnosis can how we better

integrate care, how we provide better support. but, frankly, this is one of those health challenges that is not just a challenge for the health service, it is the challenge for local authorities, for schools and for parents as well. and that someone tried to bring her three children without excessive amounts of coca-cola, i know exactly how big this challenge is. >> thank you, mr. speaker. 20 years ago this week, a 16 year old pupil was stabbed to death in my constituency. nobody has ever been convicted of this crime. both of her parents subsequently died, never knowing who have taken their only child from the. thank you for the prime minister assure the house that this government will continue to provide full assistance to the police to help bring justice for one of britain's most brutal and unsolved murders? >> here, here. >> my right honorable friend is right. right to raise this case.

it is a particularly tragic case because he said the parents of this girl have both died. what i would say is of course we will do everything we can, but above all i think it's for other people, anyone who knows anything about this case to talk to the police. in the end it is their responsibility to try to solve this case. but in terms of taking action to deal with crimes, the government has taken a set of important actions. >> thank you, mr. speaker. 39 people suspected of serious child sex offenses who fled the country are bring -- are being brought back quickly to face justice. sadly, many of these backbenchers want to scrap the european arrest warrant making it easier for them. will be today categorically rule about? >> as the honorable gentleman knows we have the opportunity to work out which parts of the opinion we want to opt out of and which ones would want to opt

back into. that is being rightly discussed in the government, it's been discussed in the south uninsured they will listen very carefully to his argument. >> thank you, mr. speaker your great process is being made in improving the rights of -- many are on low income. currently they are not -- would ask a civil service to investigate this pattern to make sure that assistance with energy efficiencies available to everybody who really needs at? >> well, i look very carefully at what my right honorable friend says but i think this government has taken some steps forward in terms of the rights of our components. i have some of these in my own constituency and how important it is that we get a balance of log ride. specifically her point on the greendale i will look at that because the greenfield very important measure to try to help people with the energy efficiency and keep their bills do. we wanted to be able to as as many people as possible.

>> yesterday, the medical director of nhs told the public accounts committee that gp's were imposing unjustified restrictions on cataract operation. it seems the prime minister and his re- organization is taking the nhs back to the 1980s, when it was, when nhs was -- we take this opportunity to apologize to ugly people who are waiting for their cataract operation? >> first of all cannot just make the point that compared with 2010, 11, last year there were 400,000 extra operations in our nhs. if you look across our nhs, the our 5000 more doctors and 5000 fewer administrators. we've got the level of wards right down. the level of hospital acquired infections. [applause] and another party opposite don't want to hear, the nhs is improving under this government

because we are putting the money in and they will take the money out. >> many of us were inspired by the prime minister's speech on reform delivered when we are in opposition to he promised to make politicians more accountable to the people. to make that happen, -- when does the prime minister expect to have an open primary to be in place widely as promised in the coalition agreement? >> i do support using open primary. as he said on this side of the house we had, partly we have a number of open primaries. i hope that all parties can look at this issue and debate and see how we can encourage maximum parties, including in the selection of chancellors. >> let's talk about europe and the national interest. millions of british women would be hit by the proposal in

today's conservative report to opt out of the eu law. will be prime minister rule out this opt out today? >> what this government has done, explain to him at the beginning of prime minister's question is massively help the women through the single tear pension. i look very carefully at the proposal he mentioned and i will write to him. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i know my right honorable friend is aware of the extreme study suffered in the west country in november and december of last year, impacting many homes and businesses but also sweeping away the rail link between the west country and london leaving us cut off for several days. which he ushered our government will take every step necessary to improve the resilience of this vital rail link so we never get cut off a give? >> i think my honorable friend is right to raise this issue. i'm well aware of how bad the